Ahhhhhhhhhh.....respecting boundaries....saying 'no' to someone because
when all they merely want is what you've worked so hard
for..geez!...being afraid to say 'no' because you'll be accused of being
'rude' or perhaps, racist? Sounds like an issue facing more than just
the teaching profession...like our whole country? Here's another USA
disease...no consequences for illegal actions....cheating as an
appropriate means to an end...absolutely no shame, no matter what the
behavior.......
Sorry.......couldn't help myself. I totally agree with you...Guillani
got NYC under control with the 'broken windows' theory...that when you
stop bad behavior with the small things and it will inspire larger
changes. The idea that in your own world you're supposed to ignore
wrong behavior because someone is dying in another part of the world,
misunderstands that the macrocosm is reflected in all the little
microcosms of the universe.

I started this thread concerning the responses "sharing" and "poaching".
It is not something that needs to be swept under the rug because there
are people dying out there, children starving,etc, etc. Too many
conflicts arise from not having the discussion in the first place,
learning from each other's viewpoints. Teachers are important and any
problems that they are encountering are important to address, for
numerous reasons. It is an adult's job to model problem solving, to use
positive means to solve problems so that it leads to a resolution
between parties involved. Healthy functioning translates into positive
environments and student learning. I used a friend's story to begin the
conversation. It was important enough to her to talk to me about it.
Another one of my friend's colleagues requested her entire collection;
lessons, books, handouts, etc, that had to do with value. For an art
teacher to ask another teacher for everthing she has on something is
simply a teacher that is not doing her job. Is that not one aspect of a
teacher's job: curriculum development? Obviously, my friend is going to
have to establish boundaries which is not always easy to do because many
people out there percieve it as "rude". Too bad. Respecting boundaries
is fundamental to mutual trust.